Allergy Free, Gluten-Free Beans Can Help Expand Offering for Consumers with Food Intolerances

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Here’s some good news about beans: very few people are allergic to them. According to the Landover, Md.-based Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, any food can cause an allergic reaction, but nine out of ten reactions are caused by these eight foods: milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish.

In addition, beans are naturally gluten-free. According to the Ambler. Pa.-based National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA), about three million people in the U.S. have celiac disease. Celiac is not an allergy but a disease of the digestive system that causes an inability to break down wheat products. That figure is less than one percent of the U.S. population, but these aren’t the only consumers who are going gluten-free. Many more people have cut out wheat, barley and rye from their diets in an effort to eat more healthfully, lose weight, or treat other diseases.

These consumers search the web for recipes, shop for certain foods at grocery stores, and scour menus when they dine out. They also do online research before they eat at their cafeteria at school or at work.

Chefs have noticed the trend, and are adapting their menus. According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, “Gluten-free/food allergy conscious” was ranked seventh among the Top 20 Restaurant Menu Trends for full service restaurants. For limited-service restaurants, gluten-free was ranked third among menu trends. (For both types of restaurants, the top two trends were locally sourced foods and healthful foods for kids.)

Operators are making sure that consumers know about the gluten-free offerings. Restaurant menus that offer gluten-free items often denote the wheat-free status of the foods with an icon, the letters GF, or an asterisk. For restaurants that post their menus online, the gluten-free items are sometimes featured on separate menus. Most of the listings include simple substitutions such as burgers with lettuce instead of a bun, or corn taco shells instead of flour tortillas. Other menus offer suggestions, such as “Order the salad without croutons” or “Request that no pasta be added to the soup.” Others offer a list of sauces that do not contain gluten, or highlight a special dessert that is made without flour.

Some restaurants have created special gluten-free items. For example, there’s gluten-free pasta made from quinoa, rice, corn, or potato. Pizza restaurants offer certain pies on gluten-free crusts, which contain tapioca flour, rice flour, and other non-wheat ingredients. Burrito chains offer bowls instead of tortillas.

Restaurant chefs aren’t the only ones who are adapting to consumers’ dietary restrictions. Onsite foodservice companies are also looking at ways to introduce gluten-free and allergy free foods.

Aramark began offering gluten-free foods at baseball stadiums in 2009, when it opened what it called “baseball’s first dedicated gluten-free concessions stand” at Coors Field in Denver. Since then the Philadelphia-based Aramark has opened gluten-free concessions at several other Major League Baseball stadiums. At Citi Field in New York, fans can order hot dogs and hamburgers on gluten-free buns, gluten-free snacks such as pudding, and gluten-free beer. At Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, they can buy gluten-free crab cake, Asian noodle salad, and hummus and vegetables.

Sodexo offers gluten-free menu items in many of its cafeterias. The foods include gluten-free wraps for deli sandwiches, salad dressings without flour, and gluten-free pasta. The Gaithersburg, Md.-based company says it is not only responding to gluten-free consumers but also to other trends. In a 2011 press release Sodexo noted that one menu trend was stealth health, which means “maintaining traditional flavors while substituting healthier ingredients.”

Compass Group, based in Charlotte, N.C., launched 2bU, a premium and all-natural vending machine program offering snacks and beverages to consumers who seek organic, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, or local foods. Last year Chartwells, one of Compass Group’s foodservice management companies in the education segment, announced it had partnered with Bready North America to make wheat-free breads and cakes in college and university dining halls.

Cal Dining, part of Housing and Dining Operations, Residential and Student Service Programs (RSSP) at the University of California, Berkeley, posts nutritional information on its website. For example the Turkey Chili with Beans is gluten-free, as is the Black Bean Soup, but the Hash Brown/Potato/Black Bean breakfast is not because there is wheat in the chipotle sauce.

It’s easy to add bean-focused menu items to satisfy consumers looking for gluten-free and allergen-free foods. The NFCA offers gluten-free recipes including Rabe with Sundried Tomatoes with Chickpeas; Spaghetti Squash “Unspaghetti” with Garbanzo Beans; Shrimp, Mango, and Black Bean Salad, and others.